One further ex-official detained for Girgvliani murder

One further ex-official detained for Girgvliani murder

TBILISI, DFWatch–Police in Georgia have detained a fifth person in one of the most controversial cases during the previous government, Sandro Girgvliani’s murder.

The Prosecutor’s Office says it has been unknown until quite recently that Tamaz Kokiashvili was involved in the murder.

He is a former high official at the Constitution Security Department, commonly known as Kudi, a body under the Interior Ministry long feared for its hard handed methods.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Kokiashvili was appointed as head of the First Department in Mtatsminda Krtsanisi district in Tbilisi from September 30, 2006, and later became head of the regional department of the Interior Ministry in Kakheti. He remained in this post until September 2011, when he was appointed as deputy head of Tbilisi’s main department. In October 2012 he was fired from his position as the Interior Ministry’s department head in Isani Samgori district in Tbilisi.

Two days ago, the Prosecutor’s Office introduced a new charge against Vano Merabisvili, who was Interior Minister in 2006, when the murder took place. The investigators don’t rule out that other officials may also be charged in the near future as they continue to work on the case.